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9/11 Flight Numbers Will Be Retired Forever

May 19, 2011

United Continental will “permanently retire” flight numbers 93 and 175, Bloomberg reports, in honor of the flights hijacked on September 11, 2011. Over the past decade, the numbers have not been in use, but an error earlier this week caused them to pop up again, much to the chagrin of pilots’ and flight attendants’ unions. “The thought of anyone among management at United Airlines to even consider reinstating these two sacred flight numbers — on the heels of Osama Bin Laden’s death — demonstrates a severe disconnect from right and wrong,” said a chairman of the Air Line Pilots Association.

United Flight 175 hit the World Trade Center’s south tower, while United Flight 93 crashed in a Pennsylvania field after a passenger revolt against the hijackers. American Airlines Flights 11 and 77, which hit the north tower and Pentagon respectively, are also not in use.

A representative for the Association of Flight Attendants said, “We will never forget the heroic actions of our friends and colleagues or the pain of their loss.”